Grief In the Shell: Madokapunk IC Thread

[Sucrose]

[Neo-Mitakihara, Ward 8]
[Yachihoko Shrine, Kannushi's Dwelling]

Satou listens very carefully. And watches very carefully. And finishes his tea.

"....As do I. I thank you for keeping us informed of the goings on of the community. While the cell may have been enchanted by that tune, they will be brought into harmony with the rest of society once again. As will the singer.

I thank you for the omamori. And shall ask that you prepare another to prevent haunting by restless spirits. I may need it soon."

He extends a hand to the priest, who places a sealed bag on Satou's palm. Satou gently closes his hand over it, then pulls it back, and ties it into place in a pocket of his trenchcoat. He then stands, and bows to the Kannushi.

"Please continue to earn Yachihoko no Kami's blessing."

After a nod from the high priest, he turns, and walks for the door, nodding to Turnbull as he passes.

[Selinia]

[Old Mitakihara]
[The Chase Ends]

Spoiler

Show

Trap, no trap. Didn't matter. He had her in his field of view, down to a tiny spot in his eyes, and he was almost out.

Of course, stretching his mind that far was a little bit of work. But nothing compared to the workout from before.

He still had no idea who the other mashou was or what her capabilities might be. But, again, it didn't matter. He didn't need to get THAT much closer, so he slowed his step, pretending to look wary. (To a certain point, that was true, but he made a point to make it seem like it was a bigger deal than it was).

<<Whoever you expected, it was not me. So quit it with the dog and pony show already.>>

He doubted she would obey the command - he wasn't being overly forceful. Rather, he was trying to make a point. His abilities were not common knowledge just yet, but now that he had made first contact, he could find her just about anywhere. He knew what her mind was like.

He also made it a point not to read beyond her surface thoughts. He expected confusion, a bit of hesitation, possibly even a little fear (which helped). But he wasn't trying to figure out what she had planned. Makoto doubted Li Nuan had that much experience with telepaths, yet his intent should be clear enough.

The distant figure pauses. Makoto feels a rebuffing of his compulsion, but the message seems to have gotten through clearly. Nuan's surface thoughts are a mess of calculation for a few moments before settling on an agreement... of a sort. Unmistakably part of her calculations is the presence of the third mashou - Makoto can't quite tell whether Nuan considers the person to be an ally, but she definitely weighed their presence as an asset. A fine distinction, but a relevant one.

The magical girl takes cover, throwing up a mirror wall shielding her own position as a sort of general defense. He still has a bead on her location, despite some mild interference from the wall - still, given how oddly metaphorical mashou abilities could be at times, hurling even something as insubstantial as telepathy at it head-on might produce some odd results. There was really no good way to test the hierarchy of these sorts of specific power interactions without testing them directly. But it looks like an assault might be moot at any rate, as Nuan does not resume her retreat. Instead, the labyrinth behind Makoto collapses into spectral shards, a few of them flying to reassemble in an unblemished surface near him, providing a direct image of Nuan in her vantage point, and presumably offering the same to her.

"...hiya, Kujoh. Nice running, looks like you've got me. Guess all that city-running practice paid off, huh?" Li Nuan gives one of her serene 'teacher smiles' - the sort she hands out like coveted candies to many of the new recruits. She's pretty, in her way, with long, black hair tied back in a snug braid and her costume fully activated. A fantastical raincoat was what always came to Makoto's mind, seeing it, all in white and silver, with multicolored gemstones scattered about the hem. Perhaps surprisingly, telepathy offers no real deeper insight into the comment. It's genuine praise.

"To be totally honest, I'll admit I was hoping to lose you in there... so sorry about that. Sorry about tossing guards up like that, but I'm sorta planning on meeting someone here and she's a little bit, well... I guess twitchy would be a nice way to put it. It's been a rough day already, I don't want shots fired over some silly misunderstanding from everyone rushing in at once." Also true, though with the note of common-sense precaution going unspoken. Who wouldn't take some cover after getting tapped by an unknown form of magic? She keeps up the smile though, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"Proooobably pretty obvious, but this was supposed to be a private meeting. I hate to worry everyone, but all those people watching can get pretty stressful, you know? I don't mean to blow you off or anything, but if you came looking for me, I'd be happy to meet with you as soon as I'm done here. It won't be long at all." There are a couple flickers of surface emotion regarding the meeting - a little bit of anger, a little bit of embarrassment, a little bit of guilt, and a trace of something else he can't immediately identify.

[Neo-Mitakihara, Ward 8]
[Yachihoko Shrine, Kannushi's Dwelling > Shrine Grounds]

Spoiler

Show

Satou listens very carefully. And watches very carefully. And finishes his tea.

"....As do I. I thank you for keeping us informed of the goings on of the community. While the cell may have been enchanted by that tune, they will be brought into harmony with the rest of society once again. As will the singer.

I thank you for the omamori. And shall ask that you prepare another to prevent haunting by restless spirits. I may need it soon."

He extends a hand to the priest, who places a sealed bag on Satou's palm. Satou gently closes his hand over it, then pulls it back, and ties it into place in a pocket of his trenchcoat. He then stands, and bows to the Kannushi.

"Please continue to earn Yachihoko no Kami's blessing."

After a nod from the high priest, he turns, and walks for the door, nodding to Turnbull as he passes.

The Kannushi gives a wry chuckle at that, offering his small, ceremonial bow in return.

"I'm certain we will. With magica and incubators, about, it might seem there are few restless spirits worth banishing any longer. But I like to think we are doing our part to help, in some small way. Take care, Watanabe. We've kept your friends waiting long enough."

There is far less ceremony to leaving this place than getting it. It's open doors back to were the investigators left their shoes, then a clear shot out. Quiet day at the shrine, seems like.

[Kuroimaken]

[The chase ends]

"Nuan-sensei. It's a pleasure." The honorific is offered in respect, in spite of the fact she never taught him directly.

"I must confess I had a distinct advantage. I watched you train other mashou, so the moment I knew it was you, I knew some of your tactics already. I'm nothing if not an eager student."

So far, her reactions are nothing out of the ordinary, really. She is mostly confirming his suspicions.

"I am also pleased to ascertain that most of my theories regarding this matter were correct. Your profile didn't lend itself to things like going off on your own to vent steam. I'm sure you're aware, but there's a call to other mashou to verify your current condition. Sounds like a good cover for tying up loose ends. I'm afraid your source lost much of her ability to remain hidden the moment it got out that you were near Old Town.

Far be it from me to intrude upon the matters of two ladies, but if I might lend my expertise in matters of cloak and dagger? I can provide a much better locale for this meeting."

[Draken]

[Duncan's Phone]

There is a pause.

*Bzzt* "Guess I called too soon and Satou is still in the shrine. Sure, I can wait."

It is not like being on the phone interferes with his other activities in any way, specially when he is not even talking.

[KnightDisciple]

[Neo-Mitakihara, Ward 8]
[Yachihoko Shrine, Kannushi's Dwelling > Shrine Grounds]

[Duncan's Phone]

There is a pause.

*Bzzt* "Guess I called too soon and Satou is still in the shrine. Sure, I can wait."

It is not like being on the phone interferes with his other activities in any way, specially when he is not even talking.

Duncan shrugs. (Hey, the Chief might even see it, with all their cameras.)

"No sweat, Chief. We're all running ragged and playing this by ear."

Whether those ears are flesh or plastic is beside the point.

Dunny notes that they're leaving now, taking a moment to give the older priest a polite bow and smile, and give a polite bow and a maybe slightly flirty smile to the miko on his way out (force of habit).

"Oh, looks like we're done."

He turns to the others once they're outside, tapping a couple of keys to ring the communications devices of choice for Satou and Leysa.

"Chief's got a lead or two, wants us on a conference call. Might be we're about to compare notes and bust this thing wide open."

Probably optimistic but then Dunny's still running on mostly original wetware, unlike his partner and the Chief.

[Dorizzit]

[Neo-Mitakihara, Ward 8]
Yachihoko Shrine, Kannushi's Dwelling > Shrine Grounds

For the duration of the visit with the Kannushi, Leysa remains mostly still and almost completely silent. Although clearly a bit bemused by the ritualized exchange, her eyes shine with interest back and forth between the Kannushi and Satou as she sips at her tea. She spares a glance at Duncan as he takes the call, but it isn't hard to figure out the nature of the communication. As the meeting concludes, she stands, dusts herself off, and bows to the priest, favoring him with an appreciative smile before following Satou and Duncan out

Leysa stretches languidly once the trio is outside, leaning up against a nearby wall. She pops open her phone as Duncan calls it, holding it perpendicular to the ground and projecting a hologram of the call in front of her.

"Busting things open is one of my specialties."

[Sucrose]

Satou pauses for just a moment before nodding.

"Patch me in, Rei."

A moment later, he adds,

"...What do you have, Chief?"

[Selinia]

[Old Mitakihara]
[Diplomacy]

"Nuan-sensei. It's a pleasure." The honorific is offered in respect, in spite of the fact she never taught him directly.

"I must confess I had a distinct advantage. I watched you train other mashou, so the moment I knew it was you, I knew some of your tactics already. I'm nothing if not an eager student."

So far, her reactions are nothing out of the ordinary, really. She is mostly confirming his suspicions.

"I am also pleased to ascertain that most of my theories regarding this matter were correct. Your profile didn't lend itself to things like going off on your own to vent steam. I'm sure you're aware, but there's a call to other mashou to verify your current condition. Sounds like a good cover for tying up loose ends. I'm afraid your source lost much of her ability to remain hidden the moment it got out that you were near Old Town.

Far be it from me to intrude upon the matters of two ladies, but if I might lend my expertise in matters of cloak and dagger? I can provide a much better locale for this meeting."

The image of Nuan considers this for a few moments. Then nods. A small sigh. In the end, she doesn't seem to fully trust Makoto, but he's a member of Wishcraft and his intentions don't strike her as anything malicious. She seems to have him pegged as curious, rather than in this to actually help or hinder.

"All right. I'll hear you out if you have a suggestion, but no guarantees, okay? I'm obviously not the only one who has to be okay with a location change, and I'd like to not take too long away from work today. We're all gonna be needed I feel like, this is just... an important thing." She crosses her arms, shaking her head.

"I guess there's no point being cagey about it. I'm meeting with a mashou who isn't a part of Wishcraft. Someone living off the grid. I've known her a long time and I'd trust her with my life, but she's really suspicious of government types and big organizations like ours." Truth again. Reading people like this was almost boring, though the mix of emotions about this contact was amusingly muddled to be so firm on that one specific point.

"...if there's something going on off the grid, if Mr. Sato's death was part of something bigger... she might be able to tell me something she's heard. The NMSF needs all the help they can get with this one, but there's no way she'd show her face with them around. That's what I've been looking for. I'm honestly not cut out for this sort of secrecy, but if there's any chance that some sort of rogue mashou could be involved, it's Wishcraft's responsibility to help." Uncertainty about the methods - Li Nuan was not someone who liked breaking rules, or even bending them - but conviction about the cause. How trite.

[Kuroimaken]

[Old Mitakihara]
((Talking it out))

Makoto loved it when his analysis was right.

Off-the-grid mashou weren't all that rare. They were typically regarded as something of a wild card - can't tell what their goal is from affiliations alone for obvious reasons. The paranoid sort was typically easier to deal with simply by dint of the predictability of their patterns of behavior - couldn't rely on anything based on trust, always expect them to hope you're about to stab them in the back. Honesty was the best policy with them.

"Kujoh manor is not far from the Old City. The insides are fully insulated against outside surveillance, and there are rooms we can speak in without being interrupted. I can provide safe passage both into and out of it with City Hall being none the wiser. If someone from within Wishcraft IS on to your off-the-grid friend, they'll be coming here, as I said before. That soulgem ping pretty much cinched it.

I obviously won't force the issue. I can't ask you to trust me. I can respect that. You're risking a lot of running around before you find a good place to talk, and you risk someone making your face out while you do, so... It's mostly a matter of picking who's going to see it.

I'd like to point out that if my intent were for you to be found, you'd be surrounded already."

A dangerous, but necessary step in dealing with paranoia: pointing out the facts. They hate it when you're right, but at least they can't run away from your assertions.

[Draken]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]
(Various places, really)

Leon sends the file of Makimoto Yoshi, properly tagged as deceased.

*Bzzt* "I think you will recognize this one Leysa, daughter to the late Suzuki Kotone, adopted by Makimoto Mao. And this..."

Leon sends over the letters.

"Is a letter in her handwriting from about six months after her death, with rather peculiar content, I must add."

The rest of the files keeps rolling out to the two investigators and Leysa.

*Bzzt* "What have you got for me?"

[Sucrose]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]
(Various places, really)

Satou looks over the files for a bit. Far longer than his fully cybernetically-integrated boss would be able to find tolerable, most likely, were he not used to this aggravation all his life. ...The saying that the dead tell no tales has long been put to rest at this point, but usually they don't have much to say beyond who, when, how, and why. And any manifestos still tend to be found a few days after death, not written six months after.

"So, you have a dead girl with possible motive. And a family to investigate. We have the murder scene, and details on the weapon, presuming no magic.

Rei, send the Chief the trid map."

He pauses for a moment, to allow transmission of that information, and the Chief to glance it over.

"No sonic crack, trajectory was from inside the city, but the shot was off-grid. High-end gyro gun. Looks like it was bought in Kazamino City, with a cache of unsullied grief cubes.

Still waiting to hear back about the shot's full route through the city. Put a good kid on it.

The one taking the shot wanted a quick end. Could fit with the note appealing to the mayor's better nature.

Aside from that, we know that the criminal knows the underworld, knows how to stay out of camera view, gets help from a lot of mashou, willing or not, and knows about the mayor's sunrise routine."

[Dorizzit]

[Conference Call]
Here and there

Leysa visibly winces as the files come through, a rare display of negative emotion from the largely unflappable mashou. The story of Makimoto Yoshi was sufficiently tragic even without having met all of the people involved in it personally. Life is often unfair, but the most brutal reminders of the fact still sting no matter how long-lived you are.

"...I do recognize her."

[Selinia]

[Old Mitakihara]
[Talking it Out]

Spoiler

Show

Makoto loved it when his analysis was right.

Off-the-grid mashou weren't all that rare. They were typically regarded as something of a wild card - can't tell what their goal is from affiliations alone for obvious reasons. The paranoid sort was typically easier to deal with simply by dint of the predictability of their patterns of behavior - couldn't rely on anything based on trust, always expect them to hope you're about to stab them in the back. Honesty was the best policy with them.

"Kujoh manor is not far from the Old City. The insides are fully insulated against outside surveillance, and there are rooms we can speak in without being interrupted. I can provide safe passage both into and out of it with City Hall being none the wiser. If someone from within Wishcraft IS on to your off-the-grid friend, they'll be coming here, as I said before. That soulgem ping pretty much cinched it.

I obviously won't force the issue. I can't ask you to trust me. I can respect that. You're risking a lot of running around before you find a good place to talk, and you risk someone making your face out while you do, so... It's mostly a matter of picking who's going to see it.

I'd like to point out that if my intent were for you to be found, you'd be surrounded already."

A dangerous, but necessary step in dealing with paranoia: pointing out the facts. They hate it when you're right, but at least they can't run away from your assertions.

"...It's not a bad idea. I'll see if I can get through to her. Hold on." The image flicks out, but the mirror remains hovering there. Makoto doesn't feel Nuan running away, nor does she seem inclined to at this point. Still, it's a couple minutes before her image reappears, looking somewhat frustrated.

"Apparently the ping was drawing a stray wraith away from some civilians so she could down it safely. Why she didn't think to mention this to me I have no idea, but it sounds like she took it out cleanly. Ugh. One of these days..." Li Nuan shakes her head helplessly. "...anyway, she's agreed to meet us there, reluctantly. She knows the place apparently. If there's nothing else, we should head that way too."

[Kuroimaken]

[Old Mitakihara]
(Talking it out)

"I WAS going to provide cover for her to get there, but if she can make it on her own, she can be my guest. Literally. I'll let the manor know she's coming so she can use a less conspicuous entrance." Makoto replies.

"As for ourselves, we can take my bike. I will let the Wishcraft foundation know you ran off on 'unrelated business', and I invited you to my place in order to 'discuss future work opportunities'." In other words, keeping his language vague enough that it didn't really tell anything while keeping an appearance of normalcy. And also letting any pursuers know that she was under his wing now.

"If you'll be so kind as to follow me?" He offers with a gentleman's bow.

[Selinia]

[Old Mitakihara]
[Talking it out]

Spoiler

Show

"I WAS going to provide cover for her to get there, but if she can make it on her own, she can be my guest. Literally. I'll let the manor know she's coming so she can use a less conspicuous entrance." Makoto replies.

"As for ourselves, we can take my bike. I will let the Wishcraft foundation know you ran off on 'unrelated business', and I invited you to my place in order to 'discuss future work opportunities'." In other words, keeping his language vague enough that it didn't really tell anything while keeping an appearance of normalcy. And also letting any pursuers know that she was under his wing now.

"If you'll be so kind as to follow me?" He offers with a gentleman's bow.

Li Nuan actually laughs out loud at the bow, at the end of the string of offers. It's a good-natured laugh though, with a helpless shrug.

"You're not my secretary just because you've offered a bit of help! I'm perfectly capable of making my own call. You might want to send that warning to your people though, she's... harmless, but a bit rough around the edges of people try to push her around. And there's really no need to make it sound so sinister - I'm meeting a friend, and you're helping to get someplace set up where she can feel comfortable. It's not like we're talking to the Yakuza or anything! Anyway, I was a bit of a mess this morning, I'll chime in with a few friends who'll take my word and cover for me, I really should have done that earlier. I'll take you up on that bike offer though, no sense wasting magic. I'll be over soon as I touch bases."

The mirror blanks out again. A lot of trust, probably an overabundance of it. For whatever reason, magical girls as a whole, especially the sort of sappy idealists that Wishcraft attracted like flies to honey, seemed to be under the impression that a few shared scrapes or a bit of cooperative history meant you could trust one another. It made many of them astonishingly easy to manipulate, but there was occasionally a bit of backlash for working with one. Regardless, Nuan's image appears on the mirror once more, slipping her phone back into a pocket on her costume. With a graceful hop, she jumps out of the mirror, the reflective surface 'shattering' as she exits it. Her more fanciful costume flickers and fades to plainclothes as the mirror fades behind her, dismissing the passive energy sink as unnecessary.

"Sorry for the wait, we're good for a couple hours. Lead the way - I'm apparently not as quick as I'd like to be, but I'll keep up!"

[Kuroimaken]

[Old Mitakihara]

It was clear that despite twenty years on the job, Li Nuan had not learned the first thing about how to deal with political murders. In a sense, paranoid or no, her friend had colossal amounts of common sense that she didn't. (Of course, pointing that out would be rude.)

"That was mostly for your friend's benefit, in case she was listening." Makoto replies. It isn't entirely untrue, either. At some point, it was exactly what he expected.

"Though even so, she would have something of a point. We can't discard the possibility that there are mashou involved in the Mayor's death within Wishcraft. If so, you'd both be targets. Her dislike for the grid does have a reason to be." The boy considered for a fraction of a moment whether showing a slightly less mature side wasn't to his advantage. Nuan obviously knew how smart he was. But he was still young, and he couldn't let too much of his true self out like that.

"What say you and I have ourselves a little footrace to my bike? No magic amps, just our natural abilities." Which were augmented by their nature as mashou as it was, but still.

[strawberryman]

[Old Mitakihara]
(Some Roof)

Her wheelchair balancing itself (the wonders of technology) on the edge of a building, Nadica lets Honda run through the data discreetly pulled from 'Hoshi's' drive while munching on donuts, smoking, and finishing the remnants of Sato's liquor. So, a typical day for her. She could emphasize with giving her miko a name, though. Honda was a custom miko, somewhere between the current and upcoming OS, pulled from an expanded personality pool. It felt more natural and genuine than just using the same old submissive personality.

She rolls her eyes as she opens the bug program she set on Gomes's communicator. Set to Turnbull's shower. As usual. "Honda, take a break and fix the feed, will you?" Honda gives her usual simulated sigh before working her magic, patching her in to the conference call. A ghost, of course, only Gomes would have a remote idea she was listening in, unless the others made a point of learning programming.

Gomes himself gets a private message with a lot of not-safe-for-work images and videos, with a one-word tag from Novak. cute.

With that, listening in quietly, Nadica continues just munching her box of donuts, letting things play out for now until there's something worth jumping on.

[Draken]

Nadica gets her response fairly quickly.

Stop bugging my precinct.

[Videoconference]

*Bzzt* "Our finds are aligning then. See what the three of you can dig up on rogue mashou while we wait for ballistics."

[Selinia]

[Old Mitakihara]
[The Amazing Race]

Spoiler

Show

It was clear that despite twenty years on the job, Li Nuan had not learned the first thing about how to deal with political murders. In a sense, paranoid or no, her friend had colossal amounts of common sense that she didn't. (Of course, pointing that out would be rude.)

"That was mostly for your friend's benefit, in case she was listening." Makoto replies. It isn't entirely untrue, either. At some point, it was exactly what he expected.

"Though even so, she would have something of a point. We can't discard the possibility that there are mashou involved in the Mayor's death within Wishcraft. If so, you'd both be targets. Her dislike for the grid does have a reason to be." The boy considered for a fraction of a moment whether showing a slightly less mature side wasn't to his advantage. Nuan obviously knew how smart he was. But he was still young, and he couldn't let too much of his true self out like that.

"What say you and I have ourselves a little footrace to my bike? No magic amps, just our natural abilities." Which were augmented by their nature as mashou as it was, but still.

"...you probably think I'm pretty naive, huh? Yeah, you would. Well, I'm no expect in this sort of espionage, but if there's one thing I've learned doing this, it's that you learn to trust your friends. Otherwise you're not going to last long. If this is one of our sisters going dark, it's all the more important we stick together on this wherever we can. If your family's half as ruthless in private as they are in the market, that probably sounds loony, I know. But something to keep in mind." Nuan seems... uncharacteristically serious as she levels that at Makoto. There's no real menace to it, but it's clearly advice she's delivering with utmost sincerity. She actually seems sympathetic, if anything. Probably some mental narrative of poor little Makoto raised by ruthless sharks. She's right of course, it's just that he's the nastiest, most snaggle-toothed one in the tank.

Still, it's a brief moment of stern lecture before the sunny smile returns. "Well then. Stay alert for trouble as usual, but I'm game!" Nuan bounces back on one foot, leaning forward. "You're ready, right? Let's go!"

She's off as soon as she confirms their destination. She might not have Makoto's genetic enhancements, but she's still an experienced and powerful mashou in excellent physical shape - and maybe more important than power here, she's spent an awful lot of time running through urban environments and practicing for low energy emergencies.

[strawberryman]

[Old Mitakihara]
(Some Roof)

Nadica responds fairly quickly.

well, maybe if you'd give me a badge

She seems fairly satisfied with that retort. With the last sip of Sato's booze, she tosses the bottle off the building.

An automated trash collector collects it before it hits the water. Nadica raises her arms. "3 points."

...yeah, not much to do for now.

[Ward 4]
(Neo-Mitakihara Growth and Development Center)

Morning classes... are the usual. Rio, the quiet but focused student, and Kin the well-behaved companion. It started off with math. A rude wake-up for some. But routine for Rio. Math might be difficult sometimes, but the equations hardly changed once you knew them. The math instructor -- Mori Daisuke, a kindly middle-aged man -- gives his customary biscuit to Kin, after a few tricks of course (hand shaking, and fetching a specific object from his desk; the object changed every day, which always impressed the man). Rio accepted the praise for such a well-trained animal with her customary quiet nod, and "Hai."

Next, English. This one is taught by a foreigner. Alan Baxter, from Australia. Sometimes had to make strides to not... teach the kids inappropriate words inadvertently. Rio always found him sort of loud. As did Kin, who tilts his head at some of his more animated rants, today being no exception from the rule.

Then, they rotate out to the music classroom, Rio taking up her place at the piano as usual. It's not exactly a surprise she's one of the more advanced kids in music, she'd been taking piano lessons since she was 6. The sickly Kagome Honoka usually made Kin sit outside, she was mildly allergic to dogs. But she always showered Rio with praise.

After that... there's the usual customary cleanup in their homeroom before heading off to lunch. The academies' cafeteria was well-built, classy, and had an impressive view of the city, even with a (often highly sought-after) balcony. Rio preferred the indoors in a corner overlooking the city, herself. She takes out the bento her father packed, opening up to an impressive tempura spread. Akio was supposedly a fairly highly-rated chef before marrying Chiyo (supposedly they met at the restaurant he worked at), so... Rio rarely went wanting for good food.

Scratching Kin behind the ear with a smile, she digs in. About halfway through, she pulls out her tablet. News outlets everywhere were clamouring about the mayor's assassination. Rio furrows her brow a bit, but... doesn't read into it. The police or mashou would find the bad guy. She flips to the more audience-oriented part of the news, outlining the hottest mashou, from various heroics they'd achieved, to interviews or video clips of them performing their usual inspiring speeches.

Rio sighs a little, which elicits a nudge from Kin, resting his head in her lap. Rio recovers a smile. "...I know, Kin-chan. It's silly to think about this stuff... I'm not special at all." Kin gives her a playful nudge, somehow recognizing her deprecating herself. Maybe her tone?

"H-hey..." Kin looks up at her with a furrowed look. "...well... if I was special... one of them would come up to me, yeah?" She rubs her forehead a bit. "...oh well, I don't even know what I'd wish for..."

Kin just exhales and rests his head on Rio's lap again as she continues her lunch, giving him idle pets as she continues looking through the Mashou news.

[Kuroimaken]

[Old Mitakihara]
[The Amazing Race]

"...you probably think I'm pretty naive, huh? Yeah, you would. Well, I'm no expect in this sort of espionage, but if there's one thing I've learned doing this, it's that you learn to trust your friends. Otherwise you're not going to last long. If this is one of our sisters going dark, it's all the more important we stick together on this wherever we can. If your family's half as ruthless in private as they are in the market, that probably sounds loony, I know. But something to keep in mind." Nuan seems... uncharacteristically serious as she levels that at Makoto. There's no real menace to it, but it's clearly advice she's delivering with utmost sincerity. She actually seems sympathetic, if anything. Probably some mental narrative of poor little Makoto raised by ruthless sharks. She's right of course, it's just that he's the nastiest, most snaggle-toothed one in the tank.

Still, it's a brief moment of stern lecture before the sunny smile returns. "Well then. Stay alert for trouble as usual, but I'm game!" Nuan bounces back on one foot, leaning forward. "You're ready, right? Let's go!"

She's off as soon as she confirms their destination. She might not have Makoto's genetic enhancements, but she's still an experienced and powerful mashou in excellent physical shape - and maybe more important than power here, she's spent an awful lot of time running through urban environments and practicing for low energy emergencies.

That's delightful.

The ones that pitied him for his likely upbringing were usually the easier ones to convince to his side. All he had to do was pick the right moments to appear vulnerable. Older women, whether they appeared younger or not, were often particularly easy to get with this tactic.

When Li dashes, Makoto doesn't immediately follow. He gives her just enough of an advantage that she might think he was surprised by her initial dash - or he's giving her a headstart. Neither is true. As with many things, Makoto sought to win this through analysis, mostly the way she moved and how she picked her route. She had great marks on both - no excess motion, and in spite of an apparent lack of pre-planning, she was picking a very efficient route overall. He was confident he had the advantage in actual speed; but underestimating the route to follow could cost him his victory.

5 seconds is all it takes before he erupts into motion. Having calculated a shorter (albeit potentially riskier) route, he quickly closed much of the gap in between them. For now though, Li Nuan remained firmly in front. First, he wanted to see how seriously she would take this.

[KnightDisciple]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]
[Various places, really]

Dunny had mostly let the Chief and Satou trade information; he was mostly a middleman. That said, the information getting passed around was...well, "interesting" was one way to say it.

"So...digging things up is all well and good. But...are we just going to focus on finding the shooter? Or how broad are we gonna cast that net, Chief?"

AKA "how many people do you want us to try and arrest and how thorough should we be", which is even a question because politics, escalation, etc.

[Draken]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]
(Just the shrine and the NMSF Headquarters, truth be told)

*Bzzt* "We are going to find the shooter, the weapons dealers, the source of these grief cubes, anyone who can be meaningfully associated with this crime. But that is the long term call Duncan."

"We start with the shooter."

[KnightDisciple]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]

Duncan grunted at that.

"Roger that, Chief. Just wanting to make sure we're all up to speed."

Aka "I wanted to know how political this could get".

"We'll hunt down the...person...who did this and drag them in, hook or by crook."

Apparently the Scotsman dislikes swearing in front of ladies because he glanced at Leysa when he said "person", and Satou and the Chief knew him well enough to know he'd wanted to use one or more other words there.

[Sucrose]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]
(Just the shrine and the NMSF Headquarters, truth be told)

Satou looks over the files again. Really, explaining what was now known about the perp was as much for his own benefit as Leonardo's. Now that he has a firmer idea of what to look for, it seemed like the Chief had a point. Anti-establishment sentiments in the family, dead mashou in the family. Easy case for anger at the mayor puffing up mashou/mortal collaboration. And with Wishcraft connections, grief cubes were...doable. Not cheap. But doable.

"...In that case, you may want to have Kazamino send over the recordings from near their main weapons dealers, Chief. ...Make sure to ask one of your more trustworthy friends on that one. My bet'd be on either someone looking like Yoshi, somewhere between thirteen and twenty, or possibly Mao."

He glances over toward Leysa, the gesture hidden by his shades.

"...Maybe we can get a lock on the funds, if someone from Wishcraft happens to know something. Once we're certain who bought it, we know who the eye of the Kami should be turned on."

[Dorizzit]

[Videoconference]
Two Places

Leysa, who started fiddling with her phone almost immediately after her last comment, chuckles at Duncan's refusal to swear around her.

"What do you know, chivalry isn't dead after all. That's sweet."

Guess she's still paying attention after all. When Satou brings up the Wishcraft Foundation, Leysa looks up at him, grins, and hits a button on her phone. Satou's own phone displays a new message received.

Spoiler

Show

Hey,

I need records on our local grief cube stockpiles. Concerned someone might be misusing them. Thanks!

-Leysa

A touch informal, but maybe that's just how she is. It's addressed to a few different people, presumably members of the Foundation with the ability to provide the requested information. There's a prompt at the bottom allowing Satou to put the the message through or reject it.

[Sucrose]

[Videoconference between Leon, Satou, Duncan and Leysa]
(Here and There)

Satou considers the message for a moment. ...Could be that there's a code in there, somewhere. In theory. But. This information could make the case, and it'd still take *some* time for a warrant, even in these days.

Besides, this was Leysa. He taps a button on the top of his sunglasses, points a finger at an ARO, and the message is sent out.

[Selinia]

[Old Mitakihara]
[The Amazing Race]

Spoiler

Show

That's delightful.

The ones that pitied him for his likely upbringing were usually the easier ones to convince to his side. All he had to do was pick the right moments to appear vulnerable. Older women, whether they appeared younger or not, were often particularly easy to get with this tactic.

When Li dashes, Makoto doesn't immediately follow. He gives her just enough of an advantage that she might think he was surprised by her initial dash - or he's giving her a headstart. Neither is true. As with many things, Makoto sought to win this through analysis, mostly the way she moved and how she picked her route. She had great marks on both - no excess motion, and in spite of an apparent lack of pre-planning, she was picking a very efficient route overall. He was confident he had the advantage in actual speed; but underestimating the route to follow could cost him his victory.

5 seconds is all it takes before he erupts into motion. Having calculated a shorter (albeit potentially riskier) route, he quickly closed much of the gap in between them. For now though, Li Nuan remained firmly in front. First, he wanted to see how seriously she would take this.

Nuan seems to be taking this as a friendly competition, but it isn't one she seems to be willing to let slide without some serious effort on Makoto's part. She's moving quickly and efficiently - not taking any serious risks, but showing no hesitation about taking the sort of intimidating shortcuts that post no real risk to mashou but might seriously deter one without a very good grasp of their limits. Long drops, tight ledges, and leaps over dizzying falls don't seem to phase her, but she avoids crumbling architecture and clearly unstable ground where practical.

Makoto doesn't get the impression she's missing these paths, or shying away from them from fear - even the most jarring accident would, at worst, force a little magic use to catch herself. It is the risk aversion of the marathon runner, avoiding gambles deliberately out of an understanding that eventually the dice would cast their judgement against even the boldest spirit. Of course, it's also the risk aversion of someone whose raw analytical ability isn't giving them fairly precise odds on those gambles.

Of course, they are still gambles. A riskier route could put him ahead, Makoto is fairly certain, but these buildings are held together by a wish and a prayer in a lot of cases, and there are upper limits on what even the most brilliant mind can draw on a flash of visual information taken in while moving forward at a sprint. Still, it might present better odds than trying to beat Nuan at her own game. She's proving herself quite the powerful runner, and he doesn't spot any really clear errors in her routing.

[Videoconference]
[Two Places]

Spoiler

Show

Leysa, who started fiddling with her phone almost immediately after her last comment, chuckles at Duncan's refusal to swear around her.

"What do you know, chivalry isn't dead after all. That's sweet."

Guess she's still paying attention after all. When Satou brings up the Wishcraft Foundation, Leysa looks up at him, grins, and hits a button on her phone. Satou's own phone displays a new message received.

Spoiler

Show

Hey,

I need records on our local grief cube stockpiles. Concerned someone might be misusing them. Thanks!

-Leysa

A touch informal, but maybe that's just how she is. It's addressed to a few different people, presumably members of the Foundation with the ability to provide the requested information. There's a prompt at the bottom allowing Satou to put the the message through or reject it.

Spoiler

Show

Satou considers the message for a moment. ...Could be that there's a code in there, somewhere. In theory. But. This information could make the case, and it'd still take *some* time for a warrant, even in these days.

Besides, this was Leysa. He taps a button on the top of his sunglasses, points a finger at an ARO, and the message is sent out.

The reply is a quick one. A few minutes before a reply bounces back from one of the wishcraft quartermasters, just as casually written as Leysa's request. A file of book-keeping information is attached.

Spoiler: Happy Hunting

Show

Oh no!

No easy answers, sorry. I gave these a quick look and had my Miko double-check, but our stocks are good. No big losses or any of that. Income has been skewed kind of low lately though, esp near the seawall. If someone has cubes they shouldn't, maybe we've got a wraith poacher in old town?

-Akiko

...followed within minutes by another message. This one from a teacher.

Spoiler: Re: Happy Hunting

Show

Hey,

Aki has it right, just chiming in - Nuan was thinking along these lines earlier. She went to see if she could touch bases w/her ex, pinged me about it earlier. If anything fishy is happening off the grid hopefully we'll know soon. Pls don't sic the cops on her, you know how skittish Hoa is these days. Wish I could go just to offer a hug. =[

-Nana

...ugh. Talk about a day to dredge up bad memories. Nuan and Hoa had been absolutely insufferable as a couple, but it wasn't the sort of breakup Leysa would have wished on anybody. It hadn't been quick - Hoa had just drifted away from Wishcraft bit by bit, growing more and more convinced that some sort of malevolent force was pulling the organization's strings. Wraith hunting took its toll in the best people, and the shy and nervous Hoa had simply cracked under the pressure. It happened. Therapy couldn't catch everything, and its job was complicated further when the patient started to actively avoid sessions. Eventually Hoa just vanished, cutting most lines of contact. That was, what, six years ago? Nuan was still hurting, whatever the brave face she put on for students.

[Neo-Mitakihara, Ward 4]
[Neo-Mitakihara Growth and Development Center]

Spoiler

Show

Morning classes... are the usual. Rio, the quiet but focused student, and Kin the well-behaved companion. It started off with math. A rude wake-up for some. But routine for Rio. Math might be difficult sometimes, but the equations hardly changed once you knew them. The math instructor -- Mori Daisuke, a kindly middle-aged man -- gives his customary biscuit to Kin, after a few tricks of course (hand shaking, and fetching a specific object from his desk; the object changed every day, which always impressed the man). Rio accepted the praise for such a well-trained animal with her customary quiet nod, and "Hai."

Next, English. This one is taught by a foreigner. Alan Baxter, from Australia. Sometimes had to make strides to not... teach the kids inappropriate words inadvertently. Rio always found him sort of loud. As did Kin, who tilts his head at some of his more animated rants, today being no exception from the rule.

Then, they rotate out to the music classroom, Rio taking up her place at the piano as usual. It's not exactly a surprise she's one of the more advanced kids in music, she'd been taking piano lessons since she was 6. The sickly Kagome Honoka usually made Kin sit outside, she was mildly allergic to dogs. But she always showered Rio with praise.

After that... there's the usual customary cleanup in their homeroom before heading off to lunch. The academies' cafeteria was well-built, classy, and had an impressive view of the city, even with a (often highly sought-after) balcony. Rio preferred the indoors in a corner overlooking the city, herself. She takes out the bento her father packed, opening up to an impressive tempura spread. Akio was supposedly a fairly highly-rated chef before marrying Chiyo (supposedly they met at the restaurant he worked at), so... Rio rarely went wanting for good food.

Scratching Kin behind the ear with a smile, she digs in. About halfway through, she pulls out her tablet. News outlets everywhere were clamouring about the mayor's assassination. Rio furrows her brow a bit, but... doesn't read into it. The police or mashou would find the bad guy. She flips to the more audience-oriented part of the news, outlining the hottest mashou, from various heroics they'd achieved, to interviews or video clips of them performing their usual inspiring speeches.

Rio sighs a little, which elicits a nudge from Kin, resting his head in her lap. Rio recovers a smile. "...I know, Kin-chan. It's silly to think about this stuff... I'm not special at all." Kin gives her a playful nudge, somehow recognizing her deprecating herself. Maybe her tone?

"H-hey..." Kin looks up at her with a furrowed look. "...well... if I was special... one of them would come up to me, yeah?" She rubs her forehead a bit. "...oh well, I don't even know what I'd wish for..."

Kin just exhales and rests his head on Rio's lap again as she continues her lunch, giving him idle pets as she continues looking through the Mashou news.

"What about something that makes you happy?" A soothing tone from a petite, inoffensive young woman - Ms. Minami, Rio's literature teacher. One of the few people in the faculty almost as quiet as Rio, though she had a sort of difficult-to-place (almost regal, in a way) bearing that ensured she didn't need to raise her voice when reading aloud. She liked to chime in on Rio's thoughts when she got a chance, coaxing out actual answers wherever possible. Harmless, comfortable breaks from routine - the sort of innocuous boundary-pushing designed to ease Rio into more general interactions.

"I think it'd be easy to mess up trying to make a wish for something big or fancy or important. People tend to do that. It seems to me that you can't go wrong if you make your wish for something you love, right? I bet Kin here would know what he'd wish for in a second if you asked him." Ms. Minami (whose first name was as invisible as any teacher's as far as most students were concerned) kneels down to give Kin a gentle scratch or two of her own.

[Kuroimaken]

[Old Mitakihara]
[The Amazing Race]

Nuan seems to be taking this as a friendly competition, but it isn't one she seems to be willing to let slide without some serious effort on Makoto's part. She's moving quickly and efficiently - not taking any serious risks, but showing no hesitation about taking the sort of intimidating shortcuts that post no real risk to mashou but might seriously deter one without a very good grasp of their limits. Long drops, tight ledges, and leaps over dizzying falls don't seem to phase her, but she avoids crumbling architecture and clearly unstable ground where practical.

Makoto doesn't get the impression she's missing these paths, or shying away from them from fear - even the most jarring accident would, at worst, force a little magic use to catch herself. It is the risk aversion of the marathon runner, avoiding gambles deliberately out of an understanding that eventually the dice would cast their judgement against even the boldest spirit. Of course, it's also the risk aversion of someone whose raw analytical ability isn't giving them fairly precise odds on those gambles.

Of course, they are still gambles. A riskier route could put him ahead, Makoto is fairly certain, but these buildings are held together by a wish and a prayer in a lot of cases, and there are upper limits on what even the most brilliant mind can draw on a flash of visual information taken in while moving forward at a sprint. Still, it might present better odds than trying to beat Nuan at her own game. She's proving herself quite the powerful runner, and he doesn't spot any really clear errors in her routing.

She had the right of it for the most part. This wasn't a sprint, but a marathon. Not in the sense that they needed to conserve actual energy, but in the sense that in most cases they had no real space to pick up speed. Surprisingly enough, in spite of his shorter stature meaning an equally shorter step, Makoto's advantage lay in his lesser mass. Each gamble posed a slightly lesser risk to him because of that. Of course, if she were paying attention, taking such risks would give away a trace of his personality to her.

Fortunately, that was something he could live with.

One particular point of ascension would prove tough to support two people. This was where he needed to pick up the pace. Spotting a certain crumbling formation, Makoto picked a piece of debris off the ground and suddenly threw it with great force. The impact shattered the formation outward, and he leapt forward off the ledge a moment or so after Nuan did. Two amazing things happened one after the other, in the reverse order that will be presented now.

First, by curling his body mid-leap, Makoto managed to gain momentum enough to dart past his opponent. By taking that position, he sacrificed upward momentum for forward speed - and that meant he would fall short of his expected goal on the wall. That SHOULD be what happened, except Makoto had thrown that rock with such timing that as he fell, so did the debris that would have prevented him from leaping at the same time as Li Nuan. And those selfsame debris were used as stepping stones for him to pick up even more speed and traverse the otherwise empty space between the ledges. His landing would be smoother, giving him a precious second or two ahead of his opponent.

Second, as he passed Nuan, she would have felt the very distinct and very bold sensation of something slapping her butt. This is isn't so much "amazing" as it is funny, but it had the intention of breaking her concentration for a moment. After all, a lady has her modesty.

[Dorizzit]

Spoiler

Show

[Videoconference]
[Two Places]

The reply is a quick one. A few minutes before a reply bounces back from one of the wishcraft quartermasters, just as casually written as Leysa's request. A file of book-keeping information is attached.

Spoiler: Happy Hunting

Show

Oh no!

No easy answers, sorry. I gave these a quick look and had my Miko double-check, but our stocks are good. No big losses or any of that. Income has been skewed kind of low lately though, esp near the seawall. If someone has cubes they shouldn't, maybe we've got a wraith poacher in old town?

-Akiko

...followed within minutes by another message. This one from a teacher.

Spoiler: Re: Happy Hunting

Show

Hey,

Aki has it right, just chiming in - Nuan was thinking along these lines earlier. She went to see if she could touch bases w/her ex, pinged me about it earlier. If anything fishy is happening off the grid hopefully we'll know soon. Pls don't sic the cops on her, you know how skittish Hoa is these days. Wish I could go just to offer a hug. =[

-Nana

...ugh. Talk about a day to dredge up bad memories. Nuan and Hoa had been absolutely insufferable as a couple, but it wasn't the sort of breakup Leysa would have wished on anybody. It hadn't been quick - Hoa had just drifted away from Wishcraft bit by bit, growing more and more convinced that some sort of malevolent force was pulling the organization's strings. Wraith hunting took its toll in the best people, and the shy and nervous Hoa had simply cracked under the pressure. It happened. Therapy couldn't catch everything, and its job was complicated further when the patient started to actively avoid sessions. Eventually Hoa just vanished, cutting most lines of contact. That was, what, six years ago? Nuan was still hurting, whatever the brave face she put on for students.

[Videoconference]
Dos Lugares

Leysa takes her phone in both hands and fires off a pair of quick responses.

Spoiler: Re: Happy Hunting

Show

Thanks, that's still a useful lead. We'll check that out if the NMSF thinks it's worth going after. You're the best, Akiko.

-Leysa

Spoiler: Re:Re: Happy Hunting

Show

...Ouch :( If you find out the meeting turns up anything useful, please let me know. And tell her that if she needs someone to talk to, I'm always available.

-Leysa

Satou receives an automatic copy of the messages, and Leysa forwards the responses to Turnbull as well.

"Well, there we have it. You can confirm what Akiko sent, but I guarantee you aren't going to find anything different than what she says. Investigating the sea wall hunting grounds is worth our time, though; it's one of the better places for hunting off the grid. Or so I hear. As far as Nana's message goes, I would advise following her advice, at least for now. Hoa cracked under the pressure a few years back and she has a...history of letting her feelings dictate her actions to an unhealthy degree and a distrust of authority. I'm not saying leave her alone entirely; if you decide she's a suspect, I'm not going to stop you, but she's a lot more likely to be cooperative with Nuan, and Nuan's a lot more likely to be cooperative with us. Breaking up that meeting will make a potential information source much harder to access."

(Satou will need to release Leysa's new messages, obviously, but I think we can assume they go through from here unless he raises an objection.)